This new Food and Nutrition Security Policy (FNSP) provides an overarching framework covering the multiple dimensions of food security and nutrition improvement. It is developed to add value and create synergy to existing sectoral and other initiatives of government and partners. The Policy is framed in the context of basic human rights, child rights and women’s rights, including the universal right to food. The broad objectives of the FNSP are: to achieve good nutrition for optimum health of all Kenyans; to increase the quantity and quality of food available, accessible and affordable to all Kenyans at all times; to protect vulnerable populations using innovative and cost-effective safety nets linked to long-term development. The Policy is divided into 9 Chapters: Introduction and Background (1); Food Availability and Access (2); Food Safety, Standards and Quality Control (3); Nutrition Improvement/Nutrition Security (4); School Nutrition and Nutrition Awareness (5); Food and Nutrition Security Information (6); Early Warning and Emergency Management (7); Institutional and Legal Framework and Financing (8); Policy Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation (9). The FNSP states policy objectives for; food availability and access: food safety, standards and quality control; nutrition improvement; school nutrition and nutrition awareness: food security and nutrition information; early warning and emergency management: institutional and legal framework and financing: and strategic approaches for policy implementation, monitoring and evaluation. In order to ensure that the country has the ability to respond to critical food emergencies, the Government will transform the Strategic Grain Reserve into a Strategic Food Reserve (SFR) by including other critical foodstuffs, appropriate to local conditions. As for access to food, the policy proposes to improve food accessibility for the urban and peri-urban poor and outlines various measures regarding cultural, social and political factors in accessing food including promotion of human rights to food and adequate nutrition, promotion of production of traditional crops, and intensifying agricultural and home-based food processing and preservation activities. In order to address the challenges that climate change poses to food and nutrition security, the Government will, among other things, institutionalize drought management and adopt various measures to mitigate the negative impacts of droughts on development dynamics . The Government will protect vulnerable populations and address food insecurity concerns in developing capacity for purposes of early warning and emergency management using innovative and cost-effective safety nets and emergency relief programmes linked to long-term development.
Kenya · 2011-01-01